Young and Beautiful
by Nyodrite
Summary: WNW1: The first time an Arcobaleno met Death, Skull was nineteen- Skull just sits back and watches the two, a kind of morbidly amused fascination at the fact he is watching a hitman literally flirt with Death.
1. Chapter 1

**WNW I : Skull Befriends Death**

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 **This one-shot is dedicated to the song "Young and Beautiful"- specifically the line _"I've Seen The World, Done It All"_.**

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* * *

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 **The first time Skull met Death, he was seven.**

 ** _Hm,_** a woman's voice mused and he turned to look at the voice, staring when he saw the lady in white watching him. **_This is a new development._**

"Um." He blinked, wondering who she was and why she was here. Not that he knew where _here_ was, the last thing he remembered was-

 ** _Falling from a tree,_ ** her voice said but her mouth did not move, **_You landed wrong, broke your neck and died._ **

"Oh…" it wasn't something easy to believe but he really had no way to explain why woke up to a world of weird black-grey-white- _purple_ (?) fog-smoke- _stuff_ swirling around. "Is this...the afterlife then?"

 ** _No._ ** Her voice told him and he _really_ wanted to know how she spoke without, well, _speaking_ . **_I am Death, I do not need to_ ** **speak** **_to be understood._ **

"Then where am-" He froze, eyes widening when he registered just _what_ she had said(?).

 ** _You died so you_ ** **should** **_have continued on to the afterlife but your Cloud Flames are healing you._ ** Death said. **_It's not something that has happened before, they seemed to drag you out of the Death Flow- your species really are too many, I've had to make the entire process_ ** **automated** **_since trying to personally escort each new soul lead to a backlog and Limbo- entirely to bring you_ ** **here** **_until they can call you back to life._ **

"Sorry?" He squeaked to the note of irritation she(?) got when speaking of needing to change her work.

 ** _Yes,_ ** Death sniffed, **_Well, no more World Wars. The Flow ended up clogged with souls and I had to ask Time for a favor- it was rather messy and tedious._ **

"...I'll try not to start a war?" He tried, entirely unsure of what he's supposed to say- it wasn't as if he were _alive_ during either World War…

She peered at him before nodding, **_No, I don't believe you will. Good._ ** She looked around them and he noticed that the purple had taken over the other colors present. **_It seems as if your Flames are done._ **

"Flames?" He questioned but Death only offered him a smile- it was as beautiful as it was terrifying- before _something_ grabbed onto him and _pulled_ before he was waking up in his backyard, his mother calling him in for dinner.

...he just met Death...

...nah, it was probably just a dream.

* * *

 **The first time Skull really _acknowledged_ he had met Death, he was fourteen.**

 ** _Again?_ ** The female voice he'd started think he'd only imagined tsked and he cringed.

"Sorry?" He offered.

 ** _Well,_ ** Death allowed, **_I don't suppose it's_ ** **your** **_fault for getting mugged- at least you managed a few years before this happening. Though your Flames are stronger then last time._ **

He glanced and found that the purple fog seemed to be eating the other colors at a steady pace, "What are Flames?"

 ** _Dying Will Flames,_ ** She said after a while, **_Were born eons ago...I...lost a...bet...they are an embodiment of a being's will and resolve; the greater the resolve, the purer- the stronger- the Flames will be. There are different types of Flames, what concerns you are the Flames of the Sky- specifically the Cloud Flames. They are purple in color with the characteristic of Propagation._ **

"Flames of the Sky? Propagation?" He asked.

 ** _Your Flames are done already,_ ** Death informed him even as he felt himself being grabbed. **_If you want a longer conversation then die a messier death then a simple stab wound- I recommend an explosion._ **

And then he was waking up in the alley he'd died in.

...it was a lot harder to brush off that meeting.

* * *

 **The first time an Arcobaleno met Death, Skull was nineteen.**

It wasn't common that Mors, as Death had told him to call her that after their seventh meeting, decided to visit him in a mortal form rather then wait for the next time he had an accident to speak to him but it also wasn't exactly _uncommon_ for it to happen. She had, over his stories of what he's done between meetings, grown curious of the world and had decided to visit it- visit _him_ \- one time for the first time since the fall of the Roman Empire, she then promptly fell in love with food in general and chocolate in particular which made her one time visit a more frequent thing.

Mors' human self was dressed in her usual white though it's a dress (ankle length, sleeveless and over the shoulder like a toga) instead of robe and has some purple (the same shade as his Flames, she tells him) as accents. The pale-white skin is tanned and the white-grey hair is a dark, solid black while the eyes are a darker shade of blue then the usual pale-whitish blue.

They are seated outside at a table together, Skull making Mors laugh over the odd things that he's heard about while they wait for their food so, given that he is dressed in something other then sleep clothes or his riding suit, it's probably forgivable that it is mistake for a date.

"Ho?" Renato says, suddenly _there_ at their table. "Who is this, Skull?"

Mors smiles at the hitman, the human body taking away the terrifying factor and leaving it simply beautiful. "I am Morgana, you must be the Mr. Sinclair that Skull works with."

"I am but please call me Renato, Miss." the hitman says smoothly. "I must say, it is lovely to meet you."

His friend's smile widens, "If that is what you wish, Renato. It's very kind of you to say that, aside from Skull, very few ever have more then one meeting with me."

"It is, Miss." Renato affirms. "That is their loss, then. How long have you known Skull?"

Mors blinks, glances at him then, when he shrugs and nods, says, "I first met him when he was seven, then again when he was fourteen but it wasn't until he was fifteen that we became more then acquaintances that kept running into each other- it was actually around the time he took up stunt work."

He winced at the memory because his first year as a stuntman was one of repeated deaths as he tried to work out tricks- he probably _could_ have been more careful while he was learning but it wasn't as if there was much of a consequence for his recklessness. Skull just sits back and watches the two, a kind of morbidly amused _fascination_ at the fact he is watching a _hitman_ literally flirt with _Death_.

It ends with Skull being dragged back to where the group was staying and Renato teasing him in front of the others about his 'secret girlfriend'.

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* * *

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 **Omake - Curse**

Skull really should have expected that his friend- Anubis this time- to show up eventually.

In his line of work, some have called him suicidal and in a way, it was _true_ since he made sure to, well, _die_ at least once every other month- less to _die_ and more to meet up with his friend so he wasn't sure if it was considered being suicidal if he still _liked_ living.

Since the curse, however, he had been especially careful to not have any accidents- mostly because the Arcobaleno were all living in the same place as they got used to the change but also because he didn't want his friend to see him in this form. That turns out to be a bad decision when Death tears a portal between the worlds in the middle of the building they were staying at, all skeleton gates and life-leaching fog that makes the plants wilt and furniture decay, in the rather intimidating Anubis form- jackal head and all.

 ** _"WHAT HAVE YOU-!"_ ** Skull's friend bellows in his otherworldly voice that makes everyone cringe away.

" _Anubis!_ " Skull shouts before the being could get worked up enough to forcibly drag everyone to the afterlife. " _I'm fine!_ "

The being stalls, whirling to look at him and makes an aborted movement that is worrying- his friend has never really hesitated before- but the gate disappears and whatever the fog harmed is fix so Skull figures it's okay. Then Anubis is crossing the space in three strides before picking him up, "You are a _baby_."

"I was cursed." Skull informs the other blunts.

Anubis is fascinated, " _You're a_ **_baby_ **."

"Yes. I am aware." He deadpans.

" _Skull,_ " his friend manages, tone odd. " _You're a baby and_ **_you are_ ** **adorable**."

" _Lackey._ " Renato is the first Arcobaleno to speak.

Skull finally looks ate his fellow cursed (cursemates?). "This is my friend Anubis, you met him before as Mors- though she told you to call her Morgana. He is the personification of Death."

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 **Omake - Representation**

"So," Mictlan summed, their eyes narrowed. "You need someone to fight for you in order to free yourself from this curse?"

Skull nodded, "Yeah, I don't really know who I can ask though."

"Right." He blinks to find them nodding firmly and reforming their outfit into some kind of _armor (were those wings made of metal!?)_. "I will represent you." He opens his mouth an they glare, "You are my friend. You will not change my mind."

...Skull is 1,000% sure that this should be cheating or against the rules somehow, he also decides he needs to prepare bribes/apology gifts for everyone else taking part in the entire thing.

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 **Omake - Flirt**

Skull was instinctively looking for escape routes when something seemed to _click_ for Renato and the hitman turned to glare at him. "You _knew_."

"Er…" He fumbled, knowing denial would make this worse but having _no_ idea what the Sun was talking about. "...I...did..?"

The _you're an idiot_ was clearly visible which Skull thought was pretty unfair, it's not like _he's_ the one who is called the mind reader of the group. "When I first met... _Morgana_. You knew who...she...was."

"Well, _yeah_ ." Skull answered, still not really understanding where this was going because- "It's not like I go around having meals with strangers...except for Luce...and- erm. Well, it's not like it happens _frequently_."

The level 'not impressed' on a baby's face was both impressive and disconcerting. "We'll _talk_ about your habit of being friendly to strangers _later_ ." He kind of shied away at the implied threat, the hitman was terrifyingly good at causing the maximum amount of pain without causing a major injury. "What I want to know, is why you let me _flirt with Death_."

...oh. Well. Skull was screwed.

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 **Omake - Realization**

"Wait," Fon said and they turned to find the Storm's eyes were narrowed. "Renato said that...Morgana...told him that...she...met you when you were seven."

Skull blinked, "Yeah. I climbed a tree and fell trying to get down, broke my neck and died which is when I met her- not that I really _believed_ it, though I just took a nap under the tree and dreamed the entire thing. It wasn't until I was fourteen and I died in a mugging that I really acknowledged that I met Death- it was hard to dispute when there were holes in my shirt and blood covering me…"

"You got to know each other at fifteen." Renato said flatly, like a demand.

"Yeah, it's when I started stunt work- I had a lot of accidents because I was kind of reckless, not that it _mattered_ since I always came back. It actually became a habit, to have an accident every other month, to meet up with Death again and talk about what's been going on since we last saw each other- I never knew there were so many natural disasters…" He blinked and added, "That every other month meeting is actually why Anubis showed up like he did..."

Luce looked kind of pained. "You know that it's not alright to die, right?"

"Why?" Skull wondered, bewildered. "It's not like it _sticks_ and I like being able to visit my friend. So it's okay, right?"

He looked around but they were either blank-faced like Renato or looking like they were in pain like Luce.

Their reactions were _odd_ , it wasn't as if he hadn't _told_ them he was immortal, obviously he would have known for a reason- but maybe it was because he befriended _Death_? It was a rather unique- and terrifying- thing to do…

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 **Omake - Representative**

"Who is _that!?_ " Skull wasn't sure who asked that, he was pretty sure it was more then one person, but he knew that it was none of the Arcobaleno whom all suddenly looked rather pale.

Mictlan _was_ a rather imposing figure of over 200 centimeters in height, wings of bone with metallic feathers attached, pure white eyes to match the hair (which was actually on _fire_ ), long coat made of the life-leaching fog (killing off the grass and plants that the being walked past), an iconic scythe strapped to the back like a sword and purple veins ("To show my support.") that stood out vibrantly against the otherwise bone-white skin. That's to say nothing of the _armor_ that seemed to be made out of skeletons- some of the _human_.

Their holding Skull like a stuffed animal really did nothing to change the fact that Mictlan was intimidating.

 **"I,"** Mictlan said, placing him on their shoulder in the same movement they grabbed the scythe to slam the butt to the ground (a wave of death and decay rippled out from it, making everyone else scramble away to keep from being touched though Skull knew it wouldn't have harmed them beyond aging their clothing). **"Mictlan, the Being known as Death, shall represent the Arcobaleno Skull in this. Which of you shall challenge me?"**

There was only silence (though Skull was pretty sure that Viper was keeping their team from doing anything like Fon- and a blond man- were doing for Hibari).

Skull looked at his fellow Arcobaleno and said, _"I'm so sorry."_

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 **Originally, Death was going to be rather fluid in gender- Mors when female, Anubis when male and Mictlan when neither (plus various forms of skeleton/animal that each get their own 'name')- but the first meeting was female then it amused me to have a teenage Skull meeting Fem!Death and imagine the awkward, hormone dreams that might have happened while the "third" had Reborn and how could I pass up the line of _"a Hitman literally flirting with Death"_? **

**So I added two omakes to get Anubis and Mictlan in it.** **Then a review (this was originally for AO3) sparked a few more ideas which caused the other omakes.**

 **What is WNW?  
** _ **A series of different stories of things that never were (basically AUs) that, so far in the works, include Street Racer!Skull, Hogwarts AU, Finalis!Skull and Arcobaleno chained together teamwork test.**_


	2. (You People Making Me A Liar)

**WNW I : Skull Befriends Death 1.2**

 **OR**

 **What You Should Learn From This: I am weak, so very _very_ weak.**

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 **This (no longer one-shot) is dedicated to the reviewers who made me a liar, I love you and you are all** _ **evil**_ **. (Especially cosmosqueen,** **Jaybird and wishIcouldDRAW)**

 **"End" is kind of directly inspired by cosmosqueen: _I'm just imagining the angst if Death can't visit the afterlife and see Skull after he dies._ So be warned I guess. ****Also, "Wait" kind of directly follows "End"**

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 **Omake - Movie**

"This." Mors started, voice filled with a worrying amount of glee.

Skull, who had been dragged away by Hibari to a wreaked motorcycle and told to 'fix it' thus missing their movie night, paused and tried to recall what movie had been playing this time. It was Mukuro who chose, he remembered which meant Bad Things (and various people having nightmares), and it was something called _The Final Destination_.

" _This,_ " Mors said and he was certain she was a second from cackling, "Is a _fantastic_ idea."

Tsuna let out a odd kind of moan-whimper of terror and Reborn didn't scold him which was, well, a pretty good indication on how much of _not_ a 'fantastic' idea whatever 'this' was. So, Skull entered the room (Tsuna and Dino both seemed to be kind of hiding behind Reborn- the former more obvious then the later- who, worryingly, wasn't stopping them as the hitman took aim at Mukuro but pointedly kept Mors in his line of sight) and said, "Mors-"

"Skull," she breathed and, yes, the amount of _awe-excitement-glee_ and _I-will-do-this_ in her voice and basically radiating from her was worrying- he absolutely did not blame that everyone else in the room seemed to be keeping their distance. "I found a new hobby."

That earned another whimper-moan from Tsuna that took on an even more sob-like quality which, well, the Sky whimpered and moaned often enough but sobbing wasn't too common so this new hobby idea- whatever it was- was particularly upsetting. "Mors, _no_."

"Mors," she shot back, " _Yes._ "

They stared at each other, neither wanting to back down.

 _[If one were to ask the other occupants in the room what the stare down looked like it would be something like; Cloud Flames lit Skull's eyes, small streams trailing from them like smoke while the Mors eyes went back to their normal pale blue-white coloring with black lightning crackling at the edges.]_

Then Skull sighed, "...pan de muerto."

Because he was not above bribes.

" _Fine_." Mors huffed, "Your no fun."

(Later, Skull finds out just what kind of idea the movie had given his friend and makes a decision that Mors is not to watch a movie that Mukuro picks. _Ever_.)

.

 **Omake - Friend**

They did not have family in the way that mortals did; if they had a parent whom bore them then they did not know that being. Their first memory was waking up to their mirror sibling _:potential-beginning-life:_ being carried away by an older sibling _:potential-area-space:_ leaving them with the older sibling's mirror _:inevitable-passing-time:_. Their first name was _:inevitable-ending-death:_ that was less of a word and more of a descriptive feeling tied to their very being.

They had siblings but they were alone so they tried to befriend the mortal creatures they took to their home world. This did not help ease the loneliness as much as they had hoped, they might be able to visit the more amiable mortals but they could still talk to the newly deceased so it was enough.

Then earthlings and humans came, along with breeding for pleasure and killing for revenge, and they did not have any more time to simply _talk_ with the deceased, constantly hurrying to take each new dead back home. By the time of the Era of the World Wars came and they _had_ to beg their siblings for favors to get automate everything just so they would not fail in their duty, they were still lonely but did not care any more. They did not want to make friends with such selfish creatures.

And then, then an odd human _visited_ before returning to the mortal plane. Again and again and _again_.

Quite suddenly, entirely unexpectedly, they had found their first friend.

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 **Omake - End**

There was no purple, that was what struck Skull as he looked around the familiar place. "This is the last time I'll come here."

"It is," Mictlan's voice was so _sad_ and he suddenly wondered if his friend had ever grieved anyone before.

And, for what may have been one of the first times, Skull felt so much _older_ then his friend as he said, "This isn't the end."

"No." they agreed but it was a tired, worn thing that he thought was less agreement and more unwillingness to argue.

There wasn't anything he could say to change their mind, he also didn't want to argue now, but he swore, "We will meet again."

Then Mictlan was putting him into the Death Flow to move on, Skull's last sight of his friend was those terrifying bone-metal wings hunching and curling around the other for a small moment before snapping open as Mictlan took off.

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 **Omake - Wait **

There had been people who greeted him when he first arrived, he remembered distantly, but they were long gone by now _('We will find a way' the fluffy one swore and was never heard from again)_.

It was alright, he decided peering at the new souls that came to gawk at him and where he sat _(waited)_ , he didn't really remember them _(didn't really remember anything)_ so he didn't mourn their absence _(not any more at least, he could recall the sharp sting of grief and loneliness he had felt before)_.

Besides, he was waiting for someone _(who, he didn't know but he knew he cared for them and that he swore to wait)_.

A commotion drew his attention but he remained in place _(he couldn't leave, what if he missed who he was waiting for?)_ and watched as the great doors slammed open, letting a giant winged being walk through. The being froze as soon as it caught sight of him (he noted the fluffy one and the rest behind the being and wondered).

And he smiled, "Welcome Home."

" _Skull_." It said with what would, on a human, he'd have called a sob but sounded more like a sharp breath on it.

Then he was being hugged, it's wings curling around him as if to keep him from leaving.

The feeling of _waiting_ ended when it let out another sharp breath and said, " _I'm home_." *****

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 ***** **basically, Death cannot go to the Afterlife until _after_ every single living being died. So, Tsuna's solution (after years/decades/centuries of watching Skull wait for someone he was slowly _forgetting_ ) is to cause an Apocalypse so that Death could just come home already.**

 **What did not fit;**

They took a solid form when the Nothings ( _failed creations_ , Time told them so maybe they did have a Creator) attacked and managed to tear into Space enough for _something_ to be torn and blown apart in a distant explosion; they fought and tore and _ended_ each Nothing that crept from the Abyss while Life and Time came together to heal Space (and with each hit the Nothings landed, came this terrible feeling of _not-good-enough_ for being unable to help fix their sibling) until they stood together and bound the Nothings to the Abyss.


End file.
